JP4140782B2 - Sealed storage container, sealing method for sealed items using the same, and method for taking out - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sealed storage container suitable for enclosing and storing a sealed product that needs to be handled in a sealed state, such as radioactive contaminants and radioactive waste, and to be sealed using the same. The present invention relates to a method for enclosing and taking out an article.

As is well known, waste contaminated with radioactive materials generated at nuclear facilities is double-sealed with vinyl chloride bags and stored in drums or special container containers (hereinafter referred to as storage containers). In order to prevent leakage and spread of contamination. In particular, solid waste contaminated with plutonium is enclosed in a vinyl chloride bag by multiplying the protrusions with a vinyl chloride sheet or tape. The storage in the storage container is temporarily performed until the waste is finally disposed.
When final disposal of the waste is performed, it is necessary to take out the waste enclosed in the vinyl chloride bag from the storage container and further remove the curing material. However, since the vinyl chloride bag may be damaged during storage in the storage container and the inside of the storage container may be contaminated, the storage container cannot be easily opened (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
For this reason, when the lid of the storage container is opened, a special work facility is required as a measure for preventing the spread of contamination, resulting in high costs. In addition, the contaminated storage container becomes radioactive waste, which increases waste. Furthermore, there is a problem that a large amount of secondary waste such as curing materials and vinyl chloride bags are generated.
Masahiro Fukui, et al., “Outline of plutonium waste treatment development facility and operation results of volume reduction / stabilization”, decommissioning technique, 29, 2004

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can safely, inexpensively, easily and reliably carry out storage, removal, refilling, etc. of sealed items such as radioactive pollutants and radioactive waste. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sealed storage container capable of reducing the amount of generated waste, and a method for enclosing and taking out a sealed article using the same.

A sealed storage container according to the present invention has a container body that has an opening at one end and can accommodate a sealed article, an airtight ring that is mounted so as to close the opening of the container body, and the airtight ring. An airtight lid that works to keep the container body in an airtight state, a pressing lid that is mounted so as to cover the entire opening from above the airtight lid, and an outer lid that is mounted from above the pressing lid And a hermetic ring having a ring part inserted into the opening, a heat-sealable film bag having a distal end closed by thermal fusion and a proximal end attached to the ring part, And a glove box port mounting sleeve is provided on the outer periphery of the film bag.
The above-mentioned sealed items contain radioactive contaminants and radioactive waste, and must be sealed and used in a specific atmosphere, for example, in the food industry, electrical industry, chemical industry, medical industry, etc. Articles and the like are also included.

  Further, the sealing method of the sealing required article according to the present invention includes the step of mounting the airtight ring on the opening of the container body, the film bag of the airtight ring is expanded, and the tip thereof is opposed to the glove box port. In the state, the step of attaching the sleeve to the glove box port and the glove work of the glove box open the container body and the glove box by cutting off and opening the heat-sealed part at the tip of the film bag. A step of causing the sealing required article in the glove box to enter the container body from the opening of the film bag, and heat sealing and sealing a middle part of the film bag, After isolating the glove box, the center of the heat-sealing seal is cut so that the container body and the front A step of separating the glove box while maintaining a sealed state, and winding the cut film bag on the container body side into the hermetic ring, and attaching the hermetic lid, the pressing lid, and the outer lid in order from above And a step of enclosing and storing the sealed article in the container body.

  In addition, the method for taking out the sealed article according to the present invention includes the step of preparing the new hermetic ring, wherein the hermetic ring already attached to the sealed storage container is an old hermetic ring, and the airtight ring to be installed is a new hermetic ring. After removing the outer lid and the holding lid of the sealed storage container, the airtight ring can be replaced by pushing the new airtight ring over the airtight lid and the old airtight ring using a pushing jig. Expanding the film bag of the new airtight ring, attaching the sleeve of the new airtight ring to the glovebox port with the tip thereof facing the glovebox port, and glove work of the glovebox , By cutting off and opening the heat-sealed portion of the film bag tip of the new airtight ring, A step of opening the serial container body and said glove box, a main sealing article within the container body, is characterized in that a step of taking out from the opening portion of the film bag on the glove box.

According to the present invention, articles requiring sealing are moved while maintaining a sealed state from a glove box to a sealed storage container or from a sealed storage container to a glove box with a simple work procedure without using special work equipment. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to safely, inexpensively, easily and reliably carry out storage, removal, refilling, and the like of various sealed items including radioactive contaminants and radioactive waste.
In addition, even if the film bag is damaged, the containment of the sealed storage container is ensured by the airtight lid, and even if the outer lid is opened, the containment of the sealed storage container is ensured by the airtight ring, airtight lid, and presser lid. Therefore, even if, for example, a sealed article in the sealed storage container is a contaminant, leakage and expansion of the contamination can be reliably prevented.
In addition, when handling radioactive contaminants, secondary waste is only an airtight ring and an airtight lid, and further, no measures such as curing are required, so the amount of secondary waste generated can be reduced.

FIGS. 1-8 shows one Embodiment of the sealed storage container which concerns on this invention, the code | symbol 1 is a glove box and 10 is a sealed storage container in the figure.
The sealed storage container 10 is roughly constituted by a container body 20, an airtight ring 30, an airtight lid 41, a pressing lid 42 and an outer lid 43.
The container body 20 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape using stainless steel, hot dip galvanized steel, or the like, and has a fitting port (opening) 21 at its upper end, and radioactive contaminants below the fitting port 21. (Seal required article) A storage unit 22 for storing 5 is provided. The fitting port 21 is provided with a convex portion 23 projecting inward along the peripheral edge of the upper end of the container body 20 so that the airtight ring 30 is inserted into a portion surrounded by the front end surface of the convex portion 23. It has become. In addition, the fitting port 21 is provided with a through-hole penetrating the convex portion 23 in the vertical direction, and a filter 24 for capturing the radioactive substance is attached to the through-hole so that an increase in the internal pressure of the container can be prevented. Yes.

The hermetic ring 30 includes a ring portion 31 inserted into the fitting port 21 and a heat-sealable film bag 32 with a sleeve.
The ring portion 31 is formed in an approximately annular shape from engineering plastics such as polyphenylene ether, and has a step on the outer peripheral portion, with a large diameter portion on the distal end side and a small diameter portion on the proximal end side. A plurality of grooves are formed in the circumferential direction on the outer circumference of the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion, respectively, a sealing O-ring 34 is provided in the large-diameter portion groove, and a film bag fixing is provided in the small-diameter portion groove. O-rings 35 are respectively fitted on the outside. In addition, the inner peripheral portion distal end side of the ring portion 31 is tapered in a direction in which the inner diameter increases toward the distal end (upper end), and the hermetic lid 41 is smoothly inserted into the ring portion 31 by this taper. It is designed to be held in a stable state. Further, as shown in FIG. 7A, cuts 31 a (FIG. 7B) are respectively formed at positions corresponding to the claw portions 41 c (described later) of the airtight lid 41 on the distal end side of the inner peripheral portion of the ring portion 31. An engagement groove 31b (FIG. 7 (c)) that is formed and extends in the inner circumferential direction of the ring portion 31 is provided at the bottom (lower end) of the cuts 31a.

The film bag 32 is a film that has sufficient ability to prevent radioactive substances and other harmful substances, such as polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, and can be heat-sealed by a high frequency sealing method, a heat sealing method, or other methods. The tip of the cylindrical bag made of a material is closed by a heat-sealed portion 38. As shown in FIG. 1, the film bag 32 has its proximal end passed through the inside of the ring portion 31, the end portion is folded outward, and the O-ring 35 is removed along the groove of the small diameter portion from above. The ring portion 31 is attached by fitting.
Further, the base end portion of the sleeve 33 for attaching the glove box port is fixed to the outer peripheral portion in the middle of the length direction of the film bag 32. The sleeve 33 includes a tapered portion 36 that gradually increases in diameter from the proximal end side toward the distal end side, and a cylindrical portion 37 that is continuous with the tapered portion 36 and has a constant diameter and an open distal end. Is attached to the glove box port 2. That is, the film-made bag 32 with the sleeve is heat-sealed and sealed at the tip of the film-made bag whose outer diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the glove box port 2, and the taper portion described above is formed on the outer periphery of the film-made bag. The base end portion of the sleeve having 36 and the cylindrical portion 37 is heat-sealed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hermetic lid 41 is a substantially disk-shaped lid having an outer diameter that is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the ring portion 31, and is mounted in a state of fitting into the upper opening of the ring portion 31. As shown in FIG. 8, the hermetic lid 41 includes a disk-shaped lid portion 41a and a side wall portion 41b that rises along the outer periphery of the lid portion 41a. A plurality of grooves are formed in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the base end side (lower end side) of the side wall portion 41b, and O-rings 41d for keeping airtightness with the ring portion 31 are fitted on the respective grooves. . Further, a plurality of claw portions 41c are projected at equal intervals along the circumferential direction on the front end side (upper end side) outer periphery of the side wall portion 41b, and the claw portions 41c are cut into the notches 31a (FIG. 7) of the ring portion 31. And the airtight lid 41 is rotated clockwise so that each claw portion 41c fits into the engaging groove 31b and is fixed in a state where the airtight lid 41 and the ring portion 31 are engaged with each other. It has become.
As shown in FIG. 4, the presser lid 42 is a disc-shaped lid having an outer diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter of the container body 20, and is mounted so as to cover the entire fitting port 21 from above the airtight lid 41. . The outer lid 43 is a cylindrical lid having an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter of the container body 20 and having one end (lower end) opened, and is mounted in a state of covering the upper end portion of the container body 20. . Of these lid members 41, 42, 43, the airtight lid 41 is formed of, for example, engineering plastic such as polyphenylene ether, and the pressing lid 42 and the outer lid 43 are formed of stainless steel, hot dip galvanized steel, or the like. Yes.

Next, a method for enclosing radioactive contaminants (sealable articles 5) in the sealed storage container 10 having the above-described configuration will be described. Here, a vinyl chloride bag will be described as an example of a film bag.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, the airtight ring 30 is attached to the fitting port 21 of the container body 20. That is, the ring portion 31 of the airtight ring 30 is inserted into the fitting port 21, the upper end of the ring portion 31 is aligned with the upper end surface of the fitting port 21, and the pressing plate 25 is placed thereon and fastened with screws. Thus, the airtight ring 30 is attached to the fitting port 21.
Next, the vinyl chloride bag 32 of the airtight ring 30 is expanded, the tip thereof is opposed to the glove box port 2, and the cylindrical portion 37 of the sleeve 33 is attached to the glove box port 2 by a known bag exchange method. The bag exchange method is a method of exchanging the bag while ensuring the airtight state of the glove box 1. In this method, as will be described later, the new bag is pulled in by placing the new bag on the outside of the old bag. Pull out the old bag into the glove box 1 so that the old and new bags are exchanged.

  Thereafter, when the mounting of the sleeve 33 is completed, as shown in FIG. 2, the glove work by the glove 3 cuts and opens the heat-sealed portion 38 at the tip of the vinyl chloride bag 32, thereby opening the container body 20 and the glove box 1. And open. Then, the radioactive contaminant 5 in the glove box 1 is put into the container body 20 through the opening 39 of the vinyl chloride bag 32.

When the introduction of the radioactive contaminant 5 is completed, the middle portion of the vinyl chloride bag 32 is heat-sealed and sealed, and the container body 20 and the glove box 1 are isolated, and as shown in FIG. By cutting the center part of 40, the container main body 20 and the glove box 1 are cut off while maintaining the sealed state.
Thereafter, the cut vinyl chloride bag 32 on the container body 20 side is wound into the ring portion 31, and the airtight lid 41 is fitted so as to close the upper opening of the ring portion 31. Next, after fixing the pressing lid 42 with screws (not shown) from above the fitting port 21, the hermetic ring 30, and the hermetic lid 41, an outer lid 43 is attached as shown in FIG. As a result, the radioactive contaminant 5 is sealed and stored in the sealed storage container 10.

Next, a method for taking out the radioactive contaminant 5 enclosed and stored in the sealed storage container 10 will be described. Here, the airtight ring 30 already attached to the sealed storage container 10 will be referred to as an old airtight ring 30A, and the airtight ring to be attached in the future will be referred to as a new airtight ring 30B.
When taking out the radioactive contaminant 5 from the sealed storage container 10, first, a new airtight ring 30 </ b> B is prepared, and the vinyl chloride bag 32 is wound so as to be accommodated in the ring portion 31. Next, after removing the outer lid 43 and the presser lid 42 of the sealed storage container 10 and mounting the pushing jig 6 on the upper end of the container body 20 as shown in FIG. The airtight ring is replaced by pushing the new airtight ring 30B over the airtight lid 41 and the old airtight ring 30A. Here, the replacement of the airtight ring means that the old airtight ring 30A is dropped into the sealed storage container 10 and the new airtight ring 30B is attached to the sealed storage container 10 at the same time.

Thereafter, when the replacement of the airtight ring is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, the vinyl chloride bag 32 of the new airtight ring 30B is expanded and the tip thereof is opposed to the glove box port 2, and the new airtight ring is replaced by the bag replacement method described above. The cylindrical portion 37 of the sleeve 33 of the ring 30B is attached to the glove box port 2.
Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 9A, from the state where a vinyl chloride bag (hereinafter referred to as an old bag) is attached to the glove box port 2, first, as shown in FIG. 9B. As described above, the heat-sealing seal side of the old bag is arranged inside the glove box port 2. Next, as shown in FIG. 9 (c), among the plurality of O-rings 8 tightening the old bag to the port 2, the O-bag 8 at the end of the port is left and the old bag is turned over. A vinyl chloride bag (hereinafter referred to as a new bag) of the ring 30B is covered and only the new bag is fastened to the port 2 with one or two O-rings 8. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9 (d), only the old bag is pulled out into the glove box 1, and all the O-rings 8 are hung and fixed on the outside of the new bag. Accordingly, the old bag can be pulled out into the glove box 1 while the airtight state of the glove box 1 is secured, and the new bag can be attached to the glove box port 2.

  In this way, when the installation of the sleeve 33 of the new airtight ring 30B is completed, the heat-sealed portion 38 at the tip of the vinyl chloride bag is cut off by glove work to open the container main body 20 and the glove box 1, and the radioactivity is released from the container main body 20. Remove the contaminant 5. The old airtight ring 30 </ b> A and the airtight lid 41 are disassembled and taken out from the container body 20.

According to the method for enclosing and removing the radioactive contaminant 5, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the radioactive contaminant 5 in the glove box 1 is stored in the container body 20 via the airtight ring 30, the radioactive contaminant 5 can be safely and easily produced without causing leakage or expansion of contamination. Can be stored.
(2) Even if the vinyl chloride bag 32 is damaged, the containment property of the sealed storage container 10 is secured by the airtight lid 41, and even if the outer cover 43 is opened, the containment property of the sealed storage container 10 is airtight ring. 30, since it is secured by the airtight lid 41 and the pressing lid 42, it is possible to reliably prevent leakage and expansion of contamination.
(3) Since the new and old airtight rings 30A and 30B are exchanged by pushing the new airtight ring 30B over the airtight lid 41 and the old airtight ring 30A, the contamination is not leaked or expanded. The old and new airtight rings 30A and 30B can be exchanged safely and easily.
(4) Since the radioactive contaminant 5 in the sealed storage container 10 is taken out to the glove box 1 through the airtight ring 30, the radioactive contaminant 5 can be safely and easily produced without causing leakage or expansion of the contamination. Can be taken out. Moreover, since the radioactive contamination 5 in the sealed storage container 10 can be taken out with the existing glove box 1, no special take-out facility is required.
(5) Since the secondary waste is only the old airtight ring 30A and the airtight lid 41 when the radioactive contaminant 5 is taken out, the amount of waste generated can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional case.
(6) Since no curing material or vinyl chloride bag for bagging out radioactive contaminants 5 is used, the amount of secondary waste generated can be further reduced.

It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the sealing method and the taking-out method of the sealing required article which concern on this invention, and has shown the connection process of a sealed storage container and a glove box. It is sectional drawing which shows the process (input process of a radioactive contaminant) following the process of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the process (enclosure process of a radioactive contaminant) following the process of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the process (storage process of a radioactive contaminant) following the process of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the process (exchange process of an airtight ring) following the process of FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a process (a process for preparing a connection between a sealed storage container and a glove box) following the process of FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows the ring part of an airtight ring, (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing along the AA line of (a), (c) is along the BB line of (a). It is sectional drawing. It is a figure which shows an airtight cover, (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing along CC line of (a). It is sectional drawing for demonstrating an example of a bag exchange system.

Explanation of symbols

1 Glove box 2 Glove box port 5 Radioactive contaminants (sealable items)
6 Pushing jig 10 Sealed storage container 20 Container body 21 Fitting port (opening)
30 airtight ring 30A old airtight ring 30B new airtight ring 31 ring part 32 film bag 33 sleeve 41 airtight lid 42 holding lid 43 outer lid

Claims (3)

A container main body having an opening at one end and capable of accommodating a sealed article, an airtight ring mounted so as to close the opening of the container main body, and the container main body in an airtight state in cooperation with the airtight ring A hermetic lid that is maintained, a pressing lid that is mounted so as to cover the entire opening from above the hermetic lid, and an outer lid that is mounted from above the pressing lid,
The hermetic ring includes a ring portion that is inserted into the opening, and a thermally fusible film bag in which a distal end portion is closed by heat fusion and a proximal end portion is attached to the ring portion, A sealed storage container capable of maintaining the sealed state of an article requiring sealing, characterized in that a glove box port mounting sleeve is provided on the outer periphery of the film bag. A method for enclosing a sealed article using the sealed storage container according to claim 1,
Attaching the airtight ring to the opening of the container body;
Expanding the airtight ring film bag and attaching the sleeve to the glove box port with the tip thereof facing the glove box port;
In the glove work of the glove box, the step of opening the container main body and the glove box by cutting and opening the heat-sealed part at the tip of the film bag; and
The process of throwing the sealed items in the glove box into the container body from the opening of the film bag;
The container body and the glove box are separated by heat sealing the middle part of the film bag to isolate the container body and the glove box, and then cutting the center of the heat sealing seal. A process of separating while maintaining a sealed state;
The cut film bag on the container body side is wound into the hermetic ring, and the hermetic lid, the pressing lid and the outer lid are attached in order from above, and the sealed article is enclosed in the container body. A method for enclosing an article requiring sealing, comprising a step of storing the article. A method for taking out a sealed item from the sealed storage container according to claim 1,
The airtight ring already attached to the sealed storage container is the old airtight ring, the airtight ring to be attached is the new airtight ring,
Preparing the new airtight ring;
After removing the outer lid and the presser lid of the sealed storage container, the airtight ring is exchanged by pushing the new airtight ring over the airtight lid and the old airtight ring using a pushing jig. Process,
Expanding the film bag of the new airtight ring and attaching the sleeve of the new airtight ring to the glove box port with the tip thereof facing the glove box port;
In the glove work of the glove box, the step of opening the container body and the glove box by cutting and opening the heat-sealed part of the film bag tip of the new airtight ring; and
A method for taking out the sealed article, comprising: taking out the sealed article in the container body from the opening of the film bag into the glove box.

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